Ff 






ADDRESS 



OF THE 



MAJOEITY OF THE 



DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS 



or BOTH siuKcssd Off mn 



y^gislata d California, 



IN PUBLIC MEETING ASSEMBLED L\ CONVENTION, AT BENICIA, FEBT 1854. 



SAN FRANCISCO: 
PRINTED BY FRANCIS A. BONNARD^ 

SANSOME ST, BETIVEEN •WASHINGTON AND MEBCHANT 
1854. 



A D D K E S S 



OF THE 



JtlDJorihj Bf tijr leniotratir Mmhm • 



OF BOTH BRANCHES OF THE 



LEGISLATURE OF CALIFORNIA. 



Fellow Democrats : — Sent here as your representatives, we occupy 
positions which enable us to discover dangers that sometimes escape 
your eyes ; and appreciating tlie responsibilities imposed on us as agents, 
we have proceeded, under the pressure of a great necessity, to meet in 
caucus, in order to consult upon matters threatening the welfare of the 
State and party, and to take such measures, subject to your approval, 
as are warranted by the Constitution, and as seem, in our judgments, to 
bo called for by the exigencies of the time. These, we, as a majority 
of the Democratic members of both houses of the Legislature, now re- 
sfjectfully desire to submit to you. 

The main of these measures is a resolution to enter into an election 
this winter to supply the seat of California, becoming vacant in the 
Senate of the United States, on the 4th of March, 1855 ; (scarcely 
more than a twelvemonth hence,) and the next to make some effectual 
protest against the iuterfeniuce of Federal power and patronage, with 
the local legislation of this State. 

We believe yon will, on due examination, agree with us on the ne- 
cessity of both these measures ; upon the first, as one of the legitimate 
avails of the late State contest ; and upon the nest, as indispensiblt 
for the preservation of our local independence, and our political self 
respect. 



/ 



There are two classes of reasons which have brought us to these coii- 
clusions. Fh'st, because, under the Constitutions of the United States 
and the State of California, the present session is the legal and proper 
one in which to provide for the forthcoming vacancy ; and, second, be- 
cause the condition of the Democratic Party, assailed anew by the re- 
vived machinations of the Whigs and Democratic Bolters of the late 
campaign, require at our hands prompt action and sudden check. In 
that memorable contest, fellow-citizens, it was your steadfast fidelity to 
Democratic order, that saved our principles and preserved our ticket ; 
and now, the same spirit is again required, both from you and from us, 
to frustrate this supplemental and desperate attempt to derange our 
discipline and deprive us of the richest prize of hard-earned victory. 

The epilogue of that contest is now being performed before us. It 
is directed in the main by the same characters, inspired by the same 
motives, conducted on the i5ame principles, and worthy, we believe, of 
the same ignominious fate. We trace the connection between these in- 
cougi'uous elements from the date of the " Secret Circular," which was 
to rive the Democracy in twain and construct on its ruins a " Convention 
(Whig) Party ;" we follow a branch of the perturbed cabal into the 
late state Convention; thence, we behold it issuing to unite again openly 
in favor of Waldo and the Whigs ; and now, we find both section.s 
naturally fused together, and composing a phalanx, drilled for mischief, 
under " Secret Circular" leaders, to be mano&tivred in compact opera- 
tion on the very floors of this Legislature. 

The last effort of this unhappy coalition — which as yet has succeeded 
in nothing — is to defeat the selection of a Democratic TJ. S. Senator 
this winter. It is a final spite of the Opposition against the Conven- 
tion and Election, and they wage it through a motion for postponement, 
in order that the Senatorial question may be thrown like a firebrand 
into the next general canvass, to consume our narrow aggregate majori- 
ties, to breed in our large and closely balanced counties bitter and dis- 
tracting feuds, and to slip between the striving candidates a Whig 
electoral majority, to curse our empire in the National Halls with a 
barren sceptre and divided rule. 

Impressed with the danger comprehended in this state of affair's ; 
seeing it plainer from oui' positions than you can see it, and being em- 
powered by you, to deal with all such exigencies, we followed the im- 
memorial resource of the Democracy in times of danger, and agreed to 
meet in council for the party safety. To those who differed with us in 
opmion, we offered the olive branch of equal voices, and proposed to 
submit our common views to fair debate on the floor of a Convention ; 



bat the invitation was peremptorily rejected, our views were scorned, 
and the Opposition bolted the Caucus, and as it seems they are disposed 
to bolt every action wMcli they cannot fashion, appropriate, or control. 

We do not wish to infer the extreme of unjust motive against every 
one of the quasi members of this supplemental plot ; and in evidence 
of sincerity in this respect, will permit ourselves to review before you, 
the reasons they set up as sufficient, for refusing to the Democracy of 
California, the priceless benefit of one sixty-fourth part of the Govern- 
ment of the United States, for six entire years. Except out of respect 
for that portion which we concede may have been in honest error, we 
would scarcely occupy our time and yours, in sucli a task. 

They object, first, to the constitutionality of an election this winter, 
and insist that it is put of time ; in short, too early by a year. On 
this subject we find the followiug, in the Con.stitution of the United 
States : 

Art. 1, § 3. "The Senate of the United States .shall be composed 
of two Senators from each State, chosen hy the Legislature thereof, for 

six years. 

§ 4. " The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators 
and Representatives, sliall be prescribed in each State by tiie Legisla- 
tm-c thereof ; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or alter 
such regulations, except as to the places of chooeing Senators." 

This is all the authority we find in the general charter of the govern- 
)nent on the subject under consideration, and upon its warrant, the 
State of California, on the 30th of January, 1S52, passed an Act regu- 
lating the manner of electing its U. S. Senators ; but aware, like the 
U. S. Government, that no general rale could be prescribed to meet 
the unfore.'^cen exigencies of all the States, it wisely abstained from 
fixing any special time for holding such elections. The silence of the 
Constitutions of botli State and Union, therefore, was plainly a direct 
reference of tlie ijolnt of fi/M to the discretion of the Legi.slature. 

Constitutions are the carefully prepared Supreme L:iw of States. 
They are the work of patient inquiry and careful deliberation.— 
Within their scope nothing is overlooked— nothing done in u hurry. 
Wliatever tlicy do not prohibit, they permit ; nay, in omissions .such as 
the one before us, they ordain ; and their refusal to fix a time for sncli 
iin important event as the election of a U. S. Senator, is a direct refer- 
ence of that subject, in it« mo:;t extended bearings, to the discretion of 
the State Legi-slatm-/ . 

In absence, however, of any uf tlie special ch-cumsiaacet; whicii seem 
to have been conceived when these omissions were made, the obviou!5ly 
proper tlm§ p^ lioiaing mo'ii eleetisa is, cluriaf tlig mmn Qf tliQ Legist 



lature next precediug the one when the vaoancy occurs. lu support of 
this view we have the natural bearings of the case, and likewise the 
records of the U. S. Senate, as transmitted hither, recently, bj its ex- 
perienced Secretary, in answer to an enquiry wliich was designed to 
furnish instruction for us, in the way of precedent. In presenting the 
following letter of the honorable Secretary, we will only pause to say, 
that the Opposition, staggered by its testimony, have actually endeavored 
to pervert it to their own use ; and we request you to measure, if you 
can, the desperation of that cause, and conceive, if possible, the effront- 
ery of that faction, which could have adopted such a bold resource, to 
sustain what they felt to be an utterly indefensible position. 

Office of the Secretary of the Senate, XJ. S. > 
Washington-, 17th November, 1853, ) 

Sir : — In answer to your inquiry, I have the honor to state that, 
upon examination of the records of the Senate and other means of in- 
formation now within my reach, for the last twenty-tliree years, it is 
found, that, in every instance, wJiere ])efore the expiration of a Senatorial 
term, a Senator has been elected for the ensuing terra, he has been 
elected at tlie session of the Legislature next jireceding the camrrxncc- 
vient of sicch term. 

The uninterupted uniformity of this practice for so long a series of 
years, and throughout all the States in the Union, seems to render it 
unnecessary to carry the examination further back, especially as I see 
no reason to doubt that the result will be the same. , 

In this examination I have been aided by a reference to the American 
Almanac, in regard to the time of meeting of some of the State Legis- 
latures, the admitted accuracy of that work justifying such reference. 
But as that publication was not commenced until the year 1830, the 
like information in regard to ]irevious years, must be sought in various 
soiu'ces — many of them difljonlt of access — nnd would require verycon- 
-iderable time. 

I have tlie honor to be, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 
[Signed] ASBURY DICKENS,' 

Secretary of the Senate. 

Office of the Secretary of the Senate, TJ. S. } 

December, 2d, 1853. \ 
giR : — Since my letter of the 17th ult., the examination has been 
carried back to the very first session of tlie Senate, 17S9, and, as far 
as can be ascertained from the Records of the Senate, it is found, that, 
in every instance, where, beibre the expiration of a Senatorial term, a 
Senator has been elected for the ensuing terra, he lias been elected at 
the session of the State Legislature iiexi prcce/Iing the aymmmcement of 
such ti^rm. 

I have the lionor to be, Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

ASBXIEY DiUkENS, 
g89?etarjr of tlig Benatg 



According to the Secretary, therefore, uninterrupted custom, backed 
by the spirit of the Law, has sanctioned this Session, (as the one "pre- 
ceding the commeaccment of tlie new term" of March 4th, 1855,) to 
be the proper time for hohling an election to supply the seat of Mr 
Gwin ; and it is really a matter of surprise, that any could be found, 
among those who have the remotest knowledge of the penalties of de- 
ception, to assume, that the uumistakeable language of " next frmding 
the commencement of a nm term.,^^ should be receiTed as meaning, the 
midst of a Session %chen such xacancy cccars. 

While using the evidence of Mr. Dickens for our case, liberality in- 
duces us to admit a few precedents (evidently overlooked by him,) which 
disturb hisirule, though not sufficiently to make a rule themselves. The 
cases of Pratt of Maryland and White of Tennessee, are readiest to 
our minds, and in alluding to them, we feel it our duty, further to say, 
that though Mr. JVhite was elected nearly three years in advance of a 
vacancy, it is said to be " a part of the history of the times," that his 
election was received by the People with general satisfaction. 

At this point too, we are willing to concede, that the precedents ot 
Mr. Dickens, though they all make in our favor, are not to be taken as 
obligatory on the domestic action of this State. We recognize tlic 
sovereign right of Californiii to make rules for herself ; we desire to 
see her act independently when it suits her ; to reject, if she like, the 
thraldom of old opinion, especially whea unduly put forth in scarecrow 
appeals to "time-honored usage ;"' that when not controlled by positive 
law, slie will not be bound by any dictat<s but those of her own solid 
judgment and paramount v^ill. Custom, howe^■er, is entitled to sonu' 
attention, and before our State ip;norcs the proper respect for precedents 
Avhich lies within the boundary of her reserved rights, we would ask, in 
her name, some better construction of language, than the bolting trans- 
lation of the Secretary's letter ; and some more respectable reason than 
Whig and Federal desire, saddled and bridled, and drivf-n in a triple 
tnndem, by and with a Custom Honse Collector. 

Law and practice — the Constitution und the weight of custom, all 
repose on our side, and each will be violated and our rights foregone, if 
the election be illegally postponed and transferred to the stormy ccnin 
of a session, during which the vacancy occur:^ 

Moreover, an election next j'ear, in addition t-o beinu; out o^ rule, 
would be dangerous in policy, inadequate to the requirements of the 
State, and unjust to the member Vv'ho may he selected for the place. 
Dangerou.?, because it would iiaperil the safety of our party, and bo=. 
eaus0 1^ l^'oiiI4 enlarges to us, tlie risks of thy pe^t Qoiieral Kloctio,. 



tnadequtite to the necessities of the State, because the ensuing Legis- 
lature may fail to choose in time to meet the exigency of an Executive 
Session on the 4th of March of 1855 ; and unjust, because it banishes 
a representative who has sewed his State sufficiently well to be re- 
warded, to take a six years' exile, at an hour's notice. 

There are obligations on both sides ; and a State which asks a man 
who may ))e largely identified with her by widely distributed interests, 
to become her public agent for so long a period as six years, should 
afford him time, at least, to wmd up his personal affairs, in a manner 
not altogether ruinous to himself. In this regard California stands dif- 
ferently from every other State in the Union. We do not speak so 
much vnth regard to her geographical distance from the National Gov- 
ernment, though that is somethliig, as with regard to her domestic, 
financial, mineral, landed, agricultural and social condition. It is plain 
a representative may not arrange his business in either of these depart- 
ments, in two or three days or weeks as in an Atlantic State, to under- 
go an absence of six years ; and we venture nothing when we say, that 
for ten years yet to come, the State of California should elect her Sen- 
ators at least one year in advance of the rule of other States. 

Indeed, if an alteration, for the future, of the rule which justifies the 
election now, be advisable at all, we should much prefer an enlargement 
of the margin for choice, to a curtailment of the already too restricted 
period for preparation. That preparatory period, (as fixed by recent 
resolution between the 6th of next March and the 4th of March ensu- 
ing,) is short of a year ; and while you bear this in mind, we trust you 
will not forget to award a due condemnation to that want of truth, 
which has viciously misrepresented this period, as an advance of two 
and three years. 

It suggests itself to us here, that the C ongressional Representatives 
of California are elected more than a year in advance ; those to bo 
chosen in the coming Fall, receiving theu* certificates thirteen months 
previous to the session when they take their seats ; and it farther sug- 
gests itself, that the very parties — these " martyrs of principle" and 
apostles of consistency — vrho are so ready to sacrifice democratic ascen- 
dency rather than see a United States Senator elected at an advance 
of even so mucli as a year, are the advocates who introduced and stren- 
uously insisted on these extended mai-ginal terms for representatives to the 
Lower House. If the principle is correct in that case, it is doubly obliga- 
tory upon the case we put. Representatives of the people have no for- 
]ml duties to poi'form till the opening of the Congresses in which they 
m accredited to sit | Senators who are tbe representatlYes of States^ 



git in Executive eeseion pending the opening of Congress, et tlie foma^ 
tion of new Cabinets. TLongh ao executive session should occur within 
next year, one will surely take place on the 4th of March, 1857, and if 
we establish a precedent now, that a United States Senator may not 
be elected at the session preceding the vacancy, we lose a seat in the 
United States Senate at the expiration of Mr. Weller's terra, and the 
right of California to help shape the Cabinet, and secure her share of 
those appointments which the States are latterly in the habit of re- 
garding as among their most important interests. Here is a question 
of principle and precedent united, ample enough to supply the broad 
conscientiousness even of a bolter, and which, with the example before 
U8 of a session in our own State, (1851,) during whicli, through disa- 
greement, there was a failure to elect, not even a bolter can have justi- 
fication to refuse. Though he bolt the precedents of Asbury Dickens; 
rel>el against the usage of a caucus— fight against us with the Whigs, in 
a general election, he cannot bolt this dilemma, without confessing 
finally, that he will recognize no precedents but those of revolt ; no 
principles but those of destruction. 

The prospect of an executive session on the 4th of March 1855, 
though derided by the Opposition, as the incident only of a new iiint- 
guration, is not so unlikely to occur. Presidents die ; sometimes they 
scatter their Cabine:s to the wind/, nnd it is the port of wisdom to 
consider the whole of a subject, and provide for all contingencies. 

Least of all, should it be overlooked, that without regard to an exe- 
cutive session, the newly elected Senator for California steps into the 
position of the old one, instanter, on the vacancy, and at once repre- 
sents his State with the President at the White House, with the Cabi- 
net in their offices, and with the side branches of the Government in a 
multiplicity of matters profoundly affecting those of her interests pend- 
ing the opening of the session. These tasks he may perform by letter, 
if he remain at home ; in person, if he go ; but whether he go or 
stay, it is important he be chosen in sufficient time to enter on his la- 
bors, of all kinds, without any gap of representation against the State, 
as between him and his predecessor. 

It is a maxim in politics that " the Kiug never dies." and there 
must equally be no inten-eguum in Republican sovereignty, wherever a 
branch of the vital prerogative be lodged. The term of a Senator 
commences on the expiration of the term of his predecessor. The 
Constitution and the decree of usage prescribes the Legislature "next 
preceding that commencement" as the proper one to choose ; and we 
'gQidf tlie?§fQ?e, that it wovda uot Qulj b« illegal, but steost amlml 



iu us, were wc to push the ordeal to nil imnatiii'ul time, aud wound the 
State sovereignity with the interjection of a blank in a Ijrauch of its ex- 
istence. 

Objection has also been made to an election this winter, on the pre- 
tence that " the People have not been consulted on the Senatovial sul> 
ject ;" and it hag been said by opposing minds, that it is our intention 
to disfranehisse the masses and dispose of the question ourselves. 

From you who know us in our several constituencies, we do not fear 
an unjust inference from such a charge. It is true, we do intend to dis- 
pose of the question ourselves, and just in the manner we have laid be- 
fore you, (unless you otherwise direct,) and we intend so to do, because 
we feel we shall be acting for your benefit, and because, too, we believe 
we have your fall warrant to act for you, in all general matters spring- 
ing within the scope of representative adjustment. We do not believe 
your substantial 9en.se is to be affected by mischievous clamor, or that 
you can be blown into anger by an iasinuation that we intend to you 
disrespect. Both you and we understand the relations between rep: e- 
sentative and constituent sufficiently well, not to encroach on the one 
side, or be idly jealous on the other ; and those of us who are Senators 
know that our lengthened terms were not jcaloualy constituted with a 
view to continual response. We, of the other house, act always from 
the impulse of tliose sentiment?, which you iralme us with at the be- 
ginning of every political year, and we are willing to acquiesce, when- 
ever you choose to intercept our judgment, in any and every direction 
you may dopire to give. 

We understand the plalibt-m between uk, as you would Imve h — with 
dignity to us both. We know thnt .*<uch powers as the people wish to 
exercise them-iclves, they reserve ; what they wish to roTer to more 
technical and practised umpires, they relinquish. In matters of law, 
they appoint judges to decide the law for Uleni ; in the clioice of IT. S. 
Senators,- tiiey deputise the Lcgislaturo.. TIk'j do not require to be 
especially consnltod tqwu cither style of inqnefit, and never wish to 
give instructions, excl^pt they ml^Jrust tiuir representa lives, or cherish 
a directly confiiothiiT ojfnioii. Tiiose who iawnin;;iy consult them too 
much, are ajji to in;-ult them a little. If they do not exhibit parasitism, 
they betray wire-})ulli5),a speculation ; or by too mr.ch dependence for 
direction, confess a servile iucsipncity thnt proves them unfit for the 
bold resfM)iisibil!tir;s in times of (iar)cr<''r, which moke a representative in- 
valuable. 

We know that yuu desigued tin; Lcgii=hitiuc to ck-et V. S. Bcnutovs, 
^m tliq^t j-m morved to yoiipolvi'?; tlsc dlrt^et privilege of o]c: t';ij- the 



Legislature ; and we know, too, that you would as clieerfully acquiesce 
In our choice this winter, as you would have acquiesced in the actiou of 
the last Legislature, had a Cabinet appointment produced a premature 
vacancy in the place of Mr. G win. Such exigencies are always in the 
road of action, and you have provided for them by the manner in which 
you have constituted us. We shall always be ready to act for you to 
the best of our judgments, bound 1)y our oaths and governed by our sa- 
cred honor ; and we rely on the opinion we deserve from you to guard 
us from imputation at the moutlis of bolters, who, while pretending to 
])e " martyrs of principle," have been persistently engaged in seeking to 
destroy every principle that is dear to the Democracy. 

The outcry of such politicians about " the People's rights," is too 
hollow to deceive ; and we refjer you to the antecedents of those who 
set it up, to instruct you how highly t5ey respect your rights, and 
•how much more than we Chey are governed by public spirit and a con- 
cern for party welfare. Such new born love of principle, such un- 
looked-for high-mindedness, comes with strange -grace from those who 
sought to cut the throat of our party over the threshold of the Bcuicia 
Convention, who tried to betray our flag upon the field of battle, and 
who now stand even here, linked daily, breast to breast, with clasped 
shields, to our enemies, the "Whigs ! The wail of anguish, then, 
which they set up in your behalf, througii travelling emissaries on 
leave, and letter-writers from the arm chairs of the Custom House, is 
the mere trick of demagogues, not conceived with a view of arousing 
invaded privilege to a sense of honor, but in the hope to breed a dis- 
satisfaction in vain minds, that may give them time to play concealed 
hands. This is, in itself, the greatest insult that could bo offered to 
you, for it presupposes against you both ignorance and weakness, and 
it is merely a manoeuvre to cloak your eyeSy^while a lance is flung into 
your shoulder. 

It has been charged against us, also, that we have endeavored to 
dragoon the minority into our views by getting up a caucus ; and on 
this a word. 

We, as your agents here, perceived by numerous indications, that a 
crisis of opinion was approaching among the Democratic members of 
the Legislature, which threatened the most serious consequences to our 
party welfare. To check this feeling, to conciliate prejudice, to compare 
views, and make compromises with a liberal spirit, we proposed to our 
colleogucF. that we should enter together into council, and of course, be 
bound by whate-ver iine of action .the majority should in your namo 
^dopt, piii is § ppuyse 'whloh lias beeii ssactloaecl b^ Dempcratic Qm 

% 



K 



Urn sLuce the days of Jefferson, ivud in additiou to that license, it boari 
the paramount waiTaut of being the only mode in which parties can cf- 
Cci&atly protect themselves in ca.ses of unforeseen and vital periJ. This 
proper measure, this " time-honored custom," was flatly refused by thir- 
ty eight of ouj' number, who, after having- dictated "usage" to Califor- 
nia, which, as a sovereign, is not amenable to " usage," ignored this law 
of usage themselves who were merely iigciits, and gave rein to their iu- 
stlucts by bolting the Caucus. Their main pretence of opposition was, 
that the time of fixing the Senatorial election involved the discussion of 
a principle, which did not come within the scope of CaiiciLs, and by 
way of giving this some force, they entered into a little caucus of their 
own to decide the pnndj)Ji; ^lat a caucas had nothing to do with princi- 
ple at all. A eoftsistent conclusion for such a convention, and quite 
agreeable in logic with the Addi'ess which came from it, at its parturi- 
tion; and especially worthy of its dernier resort, that "majorities arc 
sometimes wrong." 

It is true, majorities are somelimtj* icrong, but minorities must bear 
in mind, that they are in danger of becoming criminal, according to the 
law of party, in not abiding by their verdicts — right or wrong. 

The rule of the Opposition in this matter is the vray by which small 
olTonders boll against the law, but their minority argument in favor of 
doing as thoy please ngaln.st the majority of society, generally avaUs 
them very little befoi'© an upright jury who have been in the ha))it of re- 
specting the laws of the majority themselves. * 

In the cnse before ua, the minority had no cause to protect, much less 
to rebel. Tiie (juestion of time, was purely a caucus question. There 
was no principle to be considered; that had been e^iiablishcd by the 
Siiite and Xutional Cou*ftutious, clenched by the usnge of the country; 
and the only j/jiut lor deliberati<ni was, ihefuing of a day. The cau- 
cus vras called, therefore, to deliberate upon nn act purely of party pol- 
icy, to settle an expedient, and not to decide a jiriuciple, and those wlw 
refused to re^-o^iilse. its :u;tion and rw^pecr its decrees, whether party 
or^rans or party men. deliVK-ratr-iv rdinqnislivd all eloirns lo democratic 
fovor; all right to future notice. . ^ 

One Vv'ord more before v.'e close, as to the chorge that an election, by 
us, of a Fnited Stat^es Senator tiiis winter, will disfranchise the people 
of their rights of e.xpresaion; and to juTsent tliis properly, v/c must ex- 
amine, v/Ith wore care than we have yet done, what extent of privilege 
the people have desired to reserve to themselves on this sitbject. 

By V. wise arj-angOiucut iu our ]jlaa of government, U. S, Senators 
^ fiViu ^^ W^i'tl^ vif Ml; MadlAOH, *'m ^i^ muelf th^ ropv!3SiutitIve=; of 



the People as the repi'esentatives erf the Jiovereignty of the Statea,'" 
The People cannot have a direct roiee in their elei-tioa, and therefore 
pro})erly relinquiBh the whole subject to their representatives. Until a 
fundamental change of our Coustitntion be made, this must continue to 
be the case; and hut little reflectiou will show, that the rule works witli 
a peculiarly wholeBome effect on the example now before us. Should 
the Senatorial election, which is due this winter, be unhapily postponed, 
the next campaign instead of being one of party principles, would be 
strictly one of mm, and in the strife of passion and contending privai<; 
interests our majority would be distributed upoa the gale, and our rn^xis- 
iires would be shipwi-ecked We ask you, fellow citizens if such a tur- 
bulent canvass as this, set on foot and agisted by such pa&Bious as you 
already see at work, is an ordetil as safe and proper as the one to which 
the Constitution and your own ciilm judgment, when undisturbed by 
violent appeals, has regularly confided it. Dangers like this had been 
foreseen by Jefferson, and to that foresight do we owe the maxim, that 
*' whenever the Dooaocratic party forgot Its measures, and entered the 
political field simply for 7nm, It was no longer a party, but a congrega- 
tion of factions." 

But one task now remains; and that is to rebuke the interference of 
the agents of the Federal power and patronage with our domestic pol- 
itics, and to characterize that interference with the terms which it de- 
serves—a duty that rising indignation warns us most be done with a 
watch upon our temper. 

The National Goverumont, as compared with the States, is but a m\> 
ordinate agent; in short a clerk; appointed bv the general partnership 
to collect and apply a portion of theh* rents, and perform such otlier 
tasks as the great sovereignties cannot, without .some inconvenience and 
confusion, perform for themselves. The politics of the States and 
National Government are of precisely the ssme respective balance 
It is the victorious "Democracy v.lilc]i constitute^ a central adiiiinistra- 
tion, just as the Supreme States constitute a central power, and we 
have a right to express indignation when thai agent forgete its subordi- 
nate capacity, looses sight of its obligations, and purse-proud witli foes 
and incomes, attempts to govern our actions, and perform the part of 
master. Yet such is the state of tklugs between the Admioistration 
and the Democracy of California, and we feel that it has reached ;i 
point which demands from us a proper anger, f)vkI perhaps, at a fiitur',^ 
time, a due resentment. 

The true Democracy of California, Uke the chivaky of old, are "with- 
out fear and without reproach;" none have a higher standing ia thd 



Country, or are more free from blemish. That Democracy contributed 
with its whole heart to constitute the present administration, by its action 
in the Baltimore Convention; and in the electoral college it cast the 
four bridal votes of California in the same direction. Lo, the response. 
The administration thus complimented, names for its first officer in Cal- 
ifornia, a person who owes his entire prominence before the world of 
politics, to the occupancy of his place. Its agents opposed the victo- 
rious Democracy at the Benicia Convention. They made alliance with 
the Whigs and Bolters to defeat us in the re-election of Governor 
Bigler. They are openly charged with having dispensed coiTupting 
gold, without success, to t]<(v^art a County Convention which the De- 
mocracy of San Francisco approved by a majority of nearly four thous- 
and votes. They unite with the Bolters and with the Whigs in oppo- 
sition to the Senatorial election; and it is a notorious fact that the tried 
leaders of the Democracy — those who have kept the State upright in 
the faith, and waged her victorious through every peril in her exist- 
ence, could not, though they should all combine, present influence 
enongh at the door of the Custom House to secure an appointment to 
the meanest office in its departments. 

T^his is a scandalous state of tilings. It exhibits not only a want of 
gratitude, but a blindness to moral obligation and utter absence o!" 
principle that has no parallel iu political history. We need not say it is 
unjust to the Democracy, because we have a right to denounce it as 
criminal ; and we may define its whole character by the fact that, great 
as is the measure of the wrong to us, it is exceeded by the measiii'eless 
disgrace its reflects on them. 

Truly, this is a strange state of affairs, and the strangest part of it is, 
that the Administration should persist in its attitude without any open 
purpose, although its agents have passed through a series of the most 
ignominous defeats. ♦ Were it not for the number and signal character of 
these defeats, we would suppose it ignorant of the use made of its power 
here ; we might believe it unacquainted with the company it is forced to 
keep, and quite blind to the deplorable depth to which those unhappy 
associations have sunk it iu the public estimation of the masses of this 
State ; but Charity, though willing, can hardly yield it the remission of 
stupidity, and we are forced to conclude that the course pursued to the 
Democracy of this State, is an experiment of encroachment, (exhibited 
in a somewhat similar manner in other States,) and the general view of 
which is, to dragoon State politics under Federal control, and make the 
central power master of the country, through the vulgar influence of 
spoils. 



To rebuke this attempt ; to vindicate the dignity of our State and 
the Democratic pofty over the encroachmients of the Federal agents • 
to brand their presumptuous iuterferenpe with another overthrow, we, 
as your representatives, shall insist on chilling on the Senatorial election 
on the 6th of the approaching month of March. That will bring the 
question up, within the year dwrin^ which the xmcancy occurs, and we trust 
that those gentleman, who, governed by proper motives, have, without 
dne examination, been deceived about the time, and thui; been induced 
into the union of the Whigs and Bolters, will withdraw at onco from the 
unblessed alliance ; gather under the broad unspotted banner of that 
true Democracy which has thus far always been victorious ; which is 
destined still to triumph, but which, whether victorious or not, is the 
only one that can war® over tbeto, as Democrratp, wltbouf. .shadowing 
thom with diagTacc ! 

The tune, is ripe for judgment . The crisis has arrive<l for action.— 
Whe masses of the State are examhiing the roll, and a.^ the soldiers an- 
swer, they take hides forever. Tht* Senatoriul question, having been 
decided by a majority of the Democratic members of the Legitlature 
to come on Uig winter, id the te&t. The Oouatit u lion pcrmi In, usage 
warranl^s, and the necessities of the timti require it. That is our plat- 
form, and in gootl faith and honor, wo plant ourselves ujx)u it, aud sub- 
mit ourselves tx) you. 

SENATORS. 

San Franasco County,, ! Sa<.rammto Cvwivty. 

JOHN S. EAGER, j G. W. COLBY. 

WM. M. LENT, j ^anta Barbara Cmniij. 

I Smita Cruz Ccunty, 

Nevada County. jg q WHITING. 

El Dorado Coumi\u 
Yuba Com.ty. ' jj. G. LIYERMORE" 

CHAS. H. BRYAN, G. D. HALL, 

JAMES G. STEBBINS, \ . S/m,ta Comiy. 

Tuolumne County. \ ^- T. SPRAGUE 

JATME3 W. OOFFROTH. ! I'^<''>' ComUy. 

I CHAS. A. •rUTTLH 



MEMBERS OF ASSEMBLY. 



El Dorado County. 
D. P. TALMAGE, 
ALFREI) BRiUGS, 
JOHN CO NX ESS, 
G. McDOXALD, 
II. IIOLLISTER. 

E. c. sprixop:r, 

S. A. BALLOU. 

Placer County. 
G. n: YAXCLKFT, 
JAMKS O'XEIl.L, 
B. I,. FAinFIELD, 

B. F. MVKRS. 

i9//// T.nis Ohbifo County, 
fARICKR II. FREXCU. 

Ciil'irenix County. 
W. C. IMIATT, 
MARTI X ROWAX". 

Sficrn7nento County. 
J. M. McBRAYER, 
F. A PARK, 
J. W. PARK, 
T. «R. DAVIDSON, 
Yuba County. 

C. W. DAXIELS, 
J. C. JOXES, 

H. B. KELLOGG, 

BiUte County. 
RICHARD IRWIN. 



San Francisco County. 
ELIJAH NICHOLS, 
J. W. BAGLEY, 
JOHN C. HUBBARD, 
A. A. GREEN, 
J. W. SWEASEY, 
JAMES GILBERT, 
E. B. PURDY, 
J. W. KOLL. 

Nevada County. 
ISAAC N. DAWLEY, 
Tuolumne County. 

J. T. noYT. 
n B. godard, 

J. J. 11 OFF. 

9in Bernardino 
J. HUNT. 

Marin County. 
DAVID CLING AN. 

■ Yolo County. 
H. GRIFFITH. 

Shasta County. 
JOHN A. RING. 

Monterey County. 
D. R. ASHLEY. 

Humboldt Cov/nty. 
M. SPEXCER. 



Bknicia, February, 1854. 



